Legal services payment orders — making a wealthy spouse fund your case

REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-08-30

Financial remedy cases cost money to run — solicitors, barristers, experts. When one spouse controls virtually all the wealth and the other cannot afford to litigate, the family court can order the wealthy spouse to pay the other's legal costs as the case proceeds. The tool is the legal services payment order (LSPO) — Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 22ZA. This guide explains the test and the process. It is general information, not legal advice.

The problem LSPOs solve

Legal aid for divorce financial cases was abolished in 2013. Since then, the classic unfairness has been the spouse with all the assets simply outspending the other into submission. LSPOs restore balance: where you cannot reasonably obtain other funding, and your spouse can pay, the court can order them to fund your reasonable legal expenses — including interim payments during the case.

The statutory test (section 22ZA)

The court must be satisfied of three things:

1. You (the applicant) lack funds to obtain appropriate legal services — you've applied reasonably for a litigation loan, and either none is available on realistic terms, or the repayments would be unsustainable 2. The respondent has the means to pay 3. The payment is fair in all the circumstances — measured against your reasonable needs for legal services in the case

What the courts look at

The litigation loan question: you must show you tried. Present quotes or refusals from litigation loan providers; courts refuse LSPOs where a loan was realistically available and unexplored
Reasonableness of the costs budget: a detailed breakdown — what the case requires (experts, valuations, counsel), at market rates, proportionate to the money at stake
The respondent's liquidity: they must have funds available now — not just on paper after the final hearing
Interim staging: LSPOs are often awarded in tranches matched to case milestones

Related interim routes

Maintenance pending suit (MPS) covers your living costs interim — LSPO covers legal fees; both can be sought on the Form A
Interim lump sums are rare but exist where a discrete need (e.g. a housing deposit assessment) justifies payment
Legal aid remains for the protected injunction applications and in public law — check separately

Applying

1. Tick the LSPO (section 22ZA) box on Form A when starting financial proceedings 2. File a costs breakdown — solicitor's estimate of your costs through to final hearing, itemised 3. Evidence of the loan applications and their outcome 4. Evidence of the respondent's means — from Form E disclosure if the case is under way, or asset schedules if seeking it early 5. An interim hearing decides it — often short, on documents

Practical notes

Budget honestly — inflated demands are trimmed, and trimming undermines the whole application; a modest, evidenced budget is more persuasive than an aggressive one
LSPO payments are usually taken into account at the final hearing (often treated as advances on your share or repaid from the settlement)
If you win and the case settles early, the LSPO obligation ends with the case — it funds the litigation, not a lifestyle
Unmarried partners: LSPOs (like MPS) apply to matrimonial and civil partnership proceedings — Schedule 1 children claims have their own narrower interim funding rules for the child's carer

Official links

YourFamilyCase.co.uk is an independent information directory — we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to HMCTS or gov.uk. This page is general information and is not legal advice. LSPO applications are technical — they are normally prepared with a solicitor, who will then be paid by the order.

Content verified against the official HMCTS court directory, gov.uk forms and fees pages, and the professional body registers (SRA, FMC, Bar Council). Last reviewed September 2026.